


Nothing But Trouble

by dyingpoet



Category: The Outsiders - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Male Bonding, Period Typical Attitudes, Period-Typical Sexism, Slurs, dallas is repressed and johnny doesnt know whats going on, only once and its not bad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:33:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22037860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dyingpoet/pseuds/dyingpoet
Summary: Johnny and Dallas stay up and get to talking about girls and all that mess
Relationships: Johnny Cade/Dallas Winston, if u squint and tilt your head
Comments: 5
Kudos: 77





	Nothing But Trouble

**Author's Note:**

> hey yall, this doesnt have much of a plot but i havent written in like 2 months so im just trying to get thru the writers block,, be nice if this sucks :')

Johnny never really stayed up late. It wasn’t like he made a point of it or anything, but he usually fell asleep as soon as he found somewhere to lay down. The Curtis’ teased him about still living by a bedtime, but he didn’t mind much, and he preferred getting up early anyway. It was easier to slip out before anyone else got up, and he just liked the quiet before the neighborhood woke up and people got moving.

Dallas always stayed up late though, so whenever he crashed at Buck’s, usually after Dallas found him in the lot and half dragged him there, cursing him out goodnaturedly about catching pneumonia out there in the cold, he would be up until two or three in the morning, smoking or playing cards in Dallas’ shit room above the bar.

Johnny couldn’t say he minded all that much though. Staring at the lit end of his cigarette, he took a long drag and leaned back against the wall Dallas’ bed was shoved up against and bit back a yawn. Dallas was putting away their deck of cards and lighting another cigarette on the other side of the room.

“Glory, I ain’t tired at all, what time’s it?” Dallas asked, a bored edge crowding his voice as he sat down on the foot of the bed, mattress creaking under him. 

Johnny leaned over to look at the watch he kept on the table next to the bed. “‘Bout two-thirty.”

Dallas raised his eyebrows and shifted to sit cross-legged. “That’s it? Damn, feels like the sun should be comin’ up or somethin’. You tired?”

“Nah.”

Smirking at him a bit Dallas took another drag. “You sure about that? Soda’s always goin’ off about you havin’ a bedtime and all.”

Johnny glared, blowing smoke in Dallas’ chuckling face to distract from the flush he felt coming over his own. “Soda’s always running off at the mouth about something, and ain’t none of it true.”

“Don’t get all hacked off about it,” Dallas said easily. He broke off suddenly to curse at the door when the music downstairs got louder through the floorboards. “Buck keeps playin’ that rank ass music I’m gonna beat his head I swear.”

Johnny hummed in agreement and took the last hit off his cigarette, hissing when it burnt his fingers and putting the but on the crude ash tray Dallas kept next to the bed. 

“Anyway, Soda’s  _ was  _ talkin’ about you a couple night back.”

Dallas’ voice had a rare teasing tone in it and Johnny bit. “Sayin’ what?”

Shrugging coyly Dallas lazily leaned back against the bed. “Said he saw you and some chick out by the Ribbon. He was blitzed when he told me, practically hangin’ off Steve, but he was talkin’ you up, man.”

Johnny started fiddling with the hem of his shirt and shrugged, trying to look casual. The look on Dallas’ face said it didn’t play. “Wasn’t nothin’, just some middle class girl from the high school, was more on the make for Pony than me, kept askin’ about him.”

Expression changing a little, Dallas sat up and passed what was left of his smoke to Johnny. “Shoot kid, a girl would have to jump Pony for him to notice her, kid’s unreal. You heard Angela Shepard made a pass at him? Man, she was steamed about that, said he didn’t even notice she was alive.”

“That’s Pony for ya.”

“Yeah, he’ll get with it sometime, everybody does.”

Johnny nodded, and passed the smoke back to Dallas. If he was being honest with himself, he’d never really gotten all that into girls, even at sixteen. They were pretty and all, and could be real nice, but he never got why Two-bit and Soda were chasing after them all the time. Even at bull sessions and all that Johnny usually kept his mouth shut, only tossing in a few remarks when he had to so people wouldn’t start calling him queer or anything. He didn’t need that rumor going around.

Dallas’ voice broke through his thoughts and Johnny looked up from the mattress quickly. “Huh?”

“I said,” Dallas drawled, eyes glinting in a way that made Johnny want to shift back a little, “are you all into girls that much? Ain’t never seen you with one for too long.”

Johnny’s eyes widened a little; everyone knew Dallas had shacked up with most of the greaser girls in town, and Sylvia always seemed to be all over him every couple weeks before they split out on each other again. But Dallas never really asked Johnny about girls. He just sort of assumed he hadn’t paid much attention.

“I’ve been with a couple.”

“Really? Who?” Dallas questioned, and Johnny knew damn well he knew he was lying, but Dallas fucked with people like that a lot. He didn’t mean anything by it, but Johnny felt himself squirming a little regardless. 

Dallas broke into a smile, all teeth, and laughed as Johnny glared at him, face red, and mumbled a curse under his breath. “Jesus kid calm down, I’m just giving you shit, you ain’t exactly known as the playboy of the neighborhood.”

“Yeah you got that title on lock, huh Dal?” Johnny shot back, surprising himself with the jab but relaxing when Dallas grinned and let out a low whistle.

“Whatever you say, kid.”

“You break it off with Sylvia?” Johnny asked, nodding to the ring that was back around Dallas’ neck.

At that Dallas tensed, lighting up another smoke and shifting more towards Johnny as he shook out his match and took a drag. “That broad’s not worth my fuckin’ trouble. Me and her went at it a couple nights ago ‘cause some skag was hangin’ off me at the Dingo. Stuck up bitch, I’m done with her, man.”

Johnny nodded solemnly and lit up another one of his smokes just so he could have something to do with his hands. Dallas always got worked up when he started talking about Sylvia. “Yeah she’s off it.”

“Heard from Steve she was hittin’ on you while I was locked up.”

It wasn’t a question, and Johnny fidgeted a little even though he knew the heat in his voice was for Sylvia and not him. “Yeah, she was hammered, got all ticked off when I wouldn’t give her anything. Steve cursed her out pretty good.”

Dallas shook his head. “Girls are too much goddamn trouble, ‘specially girls like her, fuckin’ crazy.”

“Yeah, that’s why I ain’t runnin’ around with ‘em too much,” Johnny admitted, inhaling his smoke and letting it sit for a second before letting it out. 

“I dig that, man.”

They sat in silence for a while, smoking. Johnny stretched out his legs and Dallas moved to sit more or less next to Johnny. He’d been chain smoking all night, and is he was Ponyboy Johnny’d tell him to slow down or else he’d get sick, but he didn’t say stuff like that to Dallas.

“Hit that light, will ya?” Dallas said after a while shoving a pillow behind his back and propping himself up against the wall. Johnny was a little relieved he was finally starting to look tired.

“You want me to sleep on the floor, man?”

Dallas snorted and gave Johnny a sidelong glance. “You’ll be whining about a stiff neck tomorrow if you do, and I don’t mind none, Tim Shepard passed out drunk up here a few nights ago.”

Johnny nodded, feeling his head start to get a little heavy. He was tired as all hell but he tried to stay up until Dallas went to sleep whenever he stayed over. He didn’t quite know why. 

Some time passed before Dallas spoke again, and when he did Johnny almost jumped out of his skin, partly because he thought Dallas fell asleep, and partly because of what he said.

“Tim was goin’ on about how he’s messed around with guys.”

Johnny’s eyebrows shot into his hairline, and he turned to face Dallas. “Shit, really? Didn’t think Tim was like that.”

“Well he was drunk off his ass when he said it,” Dallas said, voice hardening all of the sudden, “and he ain’t  _ like  _ nothin’, most guys I know have done shit like that, if I’m tellin’ you the truth.”

That threw Johnny a little, since he couldn’t quite picture anybody he knew with a guy. He’d thought about it offhandedly, sure, but he figured guys like that got their heads beat in, so he’d never done anything. “I guess with all that free love stuff goin’ around.”

“Somethin’ like that, yeah.”

Dallas’ voice had gone low and heavy, and Johnny felt his chest tighten a little, unsure if he should say anything else. It wasn’t like he had much of a reputation for it, and Dallas never gave him shit like other guys did about keeping his mouth shut more often than not. It felt weird though, the quiet they were in now. 

“You ever thought about stuff like that?” Dallas asked finally, and his voice was quiet and small in a way Johnny had never heard from him. It made him want to bolt out of the room, if he was being honest. 

“I dunno, maybe.”

Normally Dallas would’ve cuffed him around the head and mocked him with, “Maybe’s not an answer,” but he didn’t this time. Johnny really wished he would go to sleep, because Dallas never talked like that, and Johnny didn’t know how to talk back. 

“I dig that.”

Another minute of silence and Johnny felt himself really start to drift off.

“I wouldn’t give you static or nothin’ if you did.”

Dallas accent got thicker when he was tired, Johnny noticed, but he also wasn’t shutting up, so Johnny sat up a little and tried to stay awake. “Yeah?”

“Yeah man, I mean Tim Shepard’s tougher than you and he’s done it, guess there ain’t no shame in it anymore.”

Johnny caught the crack about him not being tough and rolled his eyes. “Tim Shepard might tougher than you, even.”

If it had been anyone else, Dallas would’ve socked them for saying something like that, but Johnny knew he’d never do that to him, and he figured he deserved a dig since the hood was keeping him up. 

“Don’t get fuckin’ wise, John,” Dallas shot back a little sharp, “Tim  _ wishes  _ he was tuff as me.”

“No,  _ Curly _ wishes he was tuff as you,  _ Tim _ wishes you’d stay the hell away from his tires, from what I hear.”

Dallas barked out a laugh that echoed in the room and Johnny smiled as the older boy reached over and messed his hair before shoving his head off. “He busted my ribs tellin’ me that same thing ‘bout a week back.”

A thought suddenly occurred to Johnny and he frowned before facing Dallas, who looked back at him cooly. “Curly and Angel know Tim’s been runnin’ around with guys?”

Dallas’ face went hard again. “Nope, and they ain’t gonna know, are they?”

Times like this Johnny wondered whether he was getting too cocky about Dallas never being able to lay a finger on him. “Shit man, not from me.”

“Good, ‘cause Tim would bust my fuckin’ kneecaps if anyone found out, and then I’d have to bust yours, just to make it fair.”

He was just barely smirking by the end of the sentence, and Johnny knew he was just talking shit, but he still must have looked shaken because Dallas rolled his eyes and slung an arm around his shoulder.

“Calm down, Johnnycake, I’m just messin’ with you.”

“I know,” Johnny replied, a bit defensive, which he thought was fair given that despite Dallas’ attitude what they were talking about was heavy. 

“You tired?” Dallas said suddenly, and all hopes Johnny had of him passing out any time soon were gone.

“Not really.”

“Bullshit,” Dallas said, knocking his head with the hand that was resting on his shoulder. “It’s real  _ polite-like _ of you to stay up on account of me, but I ain’t gonna take shit from Darry when you’re passin’ out cold at their dinner table tomorrow.”

“Sure you ain’t,” Johnny mumbled, but he was starting to dose off. Dallas flicked him hard in the ear at the remark though, and he yelped and jerked forward. “Cut it out, Dal.”

“All right, all right I’m done,” Dallas said, voice light and somehow still very awake. “Go to sleep.”

Johnny nodded and slid down a little so he was laying down as good as he could with Dallas’ arm still over his shoulder, the weight actually feeling nice.

A minute passed.

“Do you want me to read you a bedtime story, too?”

“Get bent, Dallas.”

“Right back at’cha, kid.”

**Author's Note:**

> hope u guys liked this!!! i just read "that was then, this is now" so i was trying rlly hard on getting the dialogue and the mood right,, hmu if u have any Thoughts or Constructive Criticism tho :))
> 
> kudos/comments are always appreciated as are prompts!!!


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